Finn Allen’s blazing century powers KKR to fourth straight win

KATHMANDU: Kolkata Knight Riders cruised to a dominant eight-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League on Friday, powered by a sensational unbeaten century from Finn Allen.

Chasing a modest target of 143, Kolkata comfortably reached 144/2 in just 14.2 overs after restricting Delhi to 142/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

Delhi got off to a promising start, reaching 74/2 in eight overs, with Pathum Nissanka leading the charge with a fluent half-century. However, Kolkata’s spin attack turned the game around in the middle overs.

Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy applied relentless pressure, allowing Delhi to score only 11 runs between the 12th and 16th overs. Roy dismissed Nissanka via stumping before bowling Tristan Stubbs just four balls later.

Narine finished with 1/17 from four overs, while Chakaravarthy conceded 28 runs in his spell. Late resistance from Ashutosh Sharma, who scored 39 off 28 balls, helped Delhi post a respectable total.

In reply, Allen delivered a breathtaking innings, smashing an unbeaten 100 off just 47 balls to seal Kolkata’s fourth consecutive win. The New Zealand batter hammered 10 sixes and was especially destructive against spin, scoring 73 runs off 31 balls against the slower bowlers.

Even after skipper Ajinkya Rahane was run out, Allen maintained the momentum and took full advantage of the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav and Vipraj Nigam. With Kolkata needing just two runs to win, Allen fittingly completed his maiden IPL century with a towering six.

Kuldeep endured a difficult outing, conceding 41 runs in three overs, while Axar Patel picked up one wicket for 27 runs in four overs.

The victory lifted Kolkata above Delhi and into seventh place in the league standings.